Credit managers bask in post-crunch glory

A market shift and top performance have turned bond funds from plodders into investorsÃ¢ÂÂ darlings

By

William Hutchings

August 4, 2008 Updated: August 2, 2008 8:49 p.m. GMT

What a great time to be a bond manager. The seizure in the debt and credit markets that began a year ago this week turns out to have been the beginning of a boom for investors in bond funds and there are more than a dozen other reasons for their managers to anticipate a bonanza.

First, the performance figures. The best performing assets in the 12 months to the end of June were international bond funds, according to the UK pooled fund returns published last week by data provider Caps, generating a return of 16.4% net of...